• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.210-222
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• 2021

Purpose: This study was conducted to develop and test the effects of a nursing information literacy competency education program for undergraduate nursing students. Methods: A non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. The subjects consisted of 42 sophomore undergraduate nursing students who had completed a fundamental nursing course (experimental group: n=21, control group n=21). The nursing information literacy competency education program consisted of 8 steps in 8 sessions, taught over 4 weeks, which was 20 hours in total. Data were collected between January 23 and March 14, 2019 and were analyzed using Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, t-test, paired t-test, and repeated measure ANOVA with SPSS/WIN 23.0. Results: Significant differences were shown between the experimental and control groups regarding nursing information literacy competency (F=91.74, p<.001), problem-solving ability (F=52.43, p<.001), self-directed learning ability (F=36.61, p<.001), and evidence-based practice competency (F=59.66, p<.001). Conclusion: The nursing information literacy competency education program was effective in improving the nursing information literacy competency, problem-solving ability, self-directed learning ability, and evidence-based practice competency of nursing students. Hence, we recommend the nursing information literacy education program will be included as an independent course in the nursing curriculum for undergraduate nursing students to promote a needed proficiency in nursing information literacy competency.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.523-532
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• 2023

Objectives: During the second coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surge, cases increased sharply due to low awareness and compliance with measures to limit disease spread. Health literacy (HL) is an important component of public health initiatives, and schools are potential sources of health education to increase HL via the presentation of COVID-19 educational modules. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved an online questionnaire administered to students from 5 high schools in Surabaya and Sidoarjo, Indonesia, 6-7 weeks after the start of government-issued directives restricting public gatherings. We collected data on each respondent's age, gender, parental education, and socioeconomic variables. HL was determined by the Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents. We additionally measured their attitudes and behaviors related to preventing the spread of COVID-19. The students were asked if they watched the COVID-19 module at school, their feelings about vaccination, and preferred online sources of COVID-19-related information. Results: Most of the 432 respondents had viewed COVID-19 modules at school. Module exposure was associated with significantly higher total and domain-specific HL and more positive attitudes toward government-issued COVID-19 restrictions on travel and public gatherings (p<0.05). However, behaviors to prevent COVID-19 spread and vaccine acceptance were not associated with module exposure. Most students chose social media as their source of COVID-19-related information. Conclusions: Schools can provide information to increase adolescents' HL and the public's support for health initiatives to prevent or limit the spread of COVID-19.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.192-199
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• 2024

Background: Safety data sheets (SDSs) are hazard communication materials that accompany chemicals/hazardous products in the workplace. Many SDSs contain dense, technical text, which places considerable comprehension demands on workers, especially those with lower literacy skills. The goal of this study was to assess SDSs for readability, comprehensibility, and suitability (i.e., fit to the target audience). Methods: The Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM) tool assessed SDSs for suitability and readability. We then amended the SAM tool to further assess SDSs for comprehensibility factors. Both the original and amended SAM tool were used to score 45 randomly selected SDSs for content, literacy demand, graphics, and layout/typography. Results: SDSs performed poorly in terms of readability, suitability, and comprehensibility. The mean readability scores were Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (9.6), Gunning Fog index (11.0), Coleman-Liau index (13.7), and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook index (10.7), all above the recommended reading level. The original SAM graded SDSs as "not suitable" for suitability and readability. When the amended SAM was used, the mean total SAM score increased, but the SDSs were still considered "not suitable" when adding comprehensibility considerations. The amended SAM tool better identified content-related issues specific to SDSs that make it difficult for a reader to understand the material. Conclusions: In terms of readability, comprehensibility, and suitability, SDSs perform poorly in their primary role as a hazard communication tool, therefore, putting workers at risk. The amended SAM tool could be used when writing SDSs to ensure that the information is more easily understandable for all audiences.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.352-357
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• 2019

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Youth is the crucial stage between childhood and adulthood during which an individual acquires new behavior and practices including dietary habits, that may be influenced by his peers, social circle, nutrition knowledge level and other factors. The increase in awareness of young adults is of special importance from the perspective of health and prevention of obesity related chronic diseases. To measure the nutrition literacy level of university students using the Turkish version of Adolescent Nutrition Literacy Scale (ANLS). We evaluated their food habits using the Adolescent Food Habit Checklist (AFHC) tool and analysed it, if the eating habits were affected by nutrition literacy level. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on randomly selected 276 students studying in the Faculty of Health Sciences of Istanbul Aydin University, Turkey. Data was collected by means of ANLS and AFHC tools by face to face interview method. SPSS statistical sofware (IBM SPSS Statistics 19) was used to analyse the obtained data. RESULTS: Participants comprised of 47.1% males and 52.9% females with mean age of $20.0{\pm}1.60years$. Mean body mass index (BMI) was determined as $22.4{\pm}3.76$ ($23.6{\pm}3.63$ males $21.3{\pm}3.57$ females). Functional, interactive and critical nutritional literacy scores for male participants were $22.49{\pm}5.71$, $17.45{\pm}4.84$, and $28.28{\pm}7.13$ respectively (total $64.98{\pm}10.15$). For females the values were $24.66{\pm}5.13$, $20.17{\pm}4.28$, and $32.20{\pm}5.65$ (total $69.72{\pm}8.59$) respectively. For all the three sub-categories of nutrition literacy, the scores acquired by females were significantly higher than males (P < 0.001). In the AFHC tool, the mean score acquired by males were $9.26{\pm}4.18$ whereas for females it was $10.37{\pm}3.40$ significantly higher as compared to males (P = 0.007). CONCLUSION: The food habits of female participants were better than males; in accordance with their nutrition literacy status. It may be concluded that food habits are influenced by nutrition literacy and therefore stress much be given to increase the nutrition awareness among children youth as well as adults.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.419-428
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• 2018

Purpose: The study was done to investigate the correlation among health literacy, social support and medication adherence in elderly with chronic diseases. Method: Participants were 100 patients with chronic diseases in two small hospitals in J do H. A structured questionnaires was used to measure the study variables from July 14, 2017 to August 14, 2017. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Spearman correlation coefficient, and Multiple regression by SPSS/WIN 18.0 program. Result: Medication adherence and health literacy were positively correlated(r=.398, p<.001), Medication adherence and social support were positively correlated (r=.453, p<.001) and health literacy and social support were positively correlated(r=.731, p<.001). The factors influencing on medication adherance are Experience of adverse drug effect. The explanation is that medication adherence is total 25.9%(F=3.91, p<.001). Conclusion: Thus this suggests that in order to enhance medication adherence of the elderly with chronic diseases, educational programs are needed for offering customized medical information considering unique characteristics of the area and objects.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.155-182
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• 1997

Objectives : This study was designed to compare North Korea and South Korea in measures of the quality of life (physical quality of life index and human development index) and to investigate the impact of selected medical and socioeconomic factors on PQL variables. Data and Methods : The World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and Population Reference Bureau were the principal sources of statistical data of 121 countries. Variables included infant mortality, life expectancy at birth, literacy rate, secondary school enrollment (male and female), GNP per capita, population per doctor, daily calorie supply per capita, and a composite PQL index. The Ordinary Least Square model was employed for cross-countries analysis. Findings : Both countries under quite different political and economic systems saw big improvememts in the quality of life, reducing mortality and prolonging life expectancy during the past three decades. In recent decad, however, North Korea has experienced abrupt exacerbation in the quality of life. Significant improvements in infant mortality of the population wer attributable mainly to GNP per capita and the secondary school enrollemt of female. The principal predictors of life expectancy at birth were population per doctor, infant mortality, and literacy rate. The secondary school enrollment of female and population per doctor were significantly associated with improvements in the physical quality of life index (PQLI). Conclusion : The results of this study confirmed a point illustrated by other studies : The association between quality of life as a measure of health status and socioeconomic factors was strong and positive. The important contribution of educational attainment in general, female education level in particular to improvements in the quality of life deserves good news for building an integrated health care system in the reunified Korea, taking into account the high level of education two koreas are enjoying. Meanwhile, when a sharp drop in the quality of life has been observed in North Korea under serious economic difficulties and food shortage in recent decade, the significant contribution of economic development to improvements in the quality of life poses bad nows for reunifying Korean health care in economic terms.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.62-71
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• 2015

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate North Korean refugees' knowledge of mental illnesses and treatments and analyze the factors affecting this knowledge. Methods: Subjects were selected via a snowball sampling method, and the survey outcomes of 152 North Korean refugee participants were analyzed. The factors affecting knowledge of mental illnesses were analyzed via a regression analysis by constructing a multivariate model with mental illness knowledge score as the dependent variable. Results: The North Korean refugees' mental illness scores ranged from 3 to 24 points, with an average score of 13.0. Regarding the factors that influence mental illness knowledge, the subjects with South Korean spouses and those who had spent more time in South Korea had higher knowledge scores. Furthermore, the subjects who considered the mental health of North Korean refugees to be a serious issue revealed lower knowledge scores than those who did not believe it was a serious issue. The subjects who visit psychiatric clinics showed higher knowledge scores than those who do not. The South Korean subjects who had at least a college education exhibited higher scores than did those without advanced education. The subjects who are satisfied with life in South Korea manifested a higher mental illness knowledge score than those who are not. Conclusions: This study is significant as being the first study to ever measure and evaluate the level of North Korean refugees' knowledge of mental illnesses. In addition, the evaluations of North Korean refugees' mental illness knowledge and influencing factors while residing in South Korea created basic data that formed the foundation of an effort to enhance mental health literacy and provide proper mental health services. The results of this study can be utilized to solve mental health problems that might frequently occur during the unification process of North and South Korea in the future.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.327-337
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• 2023

Objectives: Considering the importance of social determinants of health (SDHs) in promoting the health of residents of informal settlements and their diversity, abundance, and breadth, this study aimed to identify, measure, and rank SDHs for health promotion interventions targeting informal settlement residents in a metropolitan area in Iran. Methods: Using a hybrid method, this study was conducted in 3 phases from 2019 to 2020. SDHs were identified by reviewing studies and using the Delphi method. To examine the SDHs among informal settlement residents, a cross-sectional analysis was conducted using researcher-made questionnaires. Multilayer perceptron analysis using an artificial neural network was used to rank the SDHs by priority. Results: Of the 96 determinants identified in the first phase of the study, 43 were examined, and 15 were identified as high-priority SDHs for use in health-promotion interventions for informal settlement residents in the study area. They included individual health literacy, nutrition, occupational factors, housing-related factors, and access to public resources. Conclusions: Since identifying and addressing SDHs could improve health justice and mitigate the poor health status of settlement residents, ranking these determinants by priority using artificial intelligence will enable policymakers to improve the health of settlement residents through interventions targeting the most important SDHs.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.129-139
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• 2010

Purpose: A new scale was developed to measure personal power and ability for health care and promotion including health determinants. Method: Research phases designed for this study were a literature review, scale development, discussion with experts, pre-test for content validity, and survey for construct validity and reliability. The scale was composed of 20 items on 4 point Likert scale and was tested on middle aged Korean-Americans (110) and Koreans (105) living in a community. Result: As the result of factor analysis, 7 dimensions were identified that were similar yet different from the original dimensions. They included health literacy, socialbelonging and gender role, self-perception, health policy participation, socio-cultural interpersonal relationships, spiritual comfort, and socioeconomic involvement. The total variances explained 59.73%. The reliability was .736 of Cronbach's alpha. The mean PPHC was not different in age, gender, economic status and disease presence, but significantly different in country where living, religion, education level, job presence, and emigration period. The increased power group perceived more wellbeing and less depression, high internal locus of control and increased power with others. In addition, they had a greater health promotion lifestyle profile. Conclusion: This scale was statistically reliable and valid to measure personal power of health care.

• Journal of the Korea society of information convergence
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.3-24
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• 2012

The purpose of this paper was to find out how the economic experiences of college students would affect their economic literacy via a survey with 494 D college students in Daegu city. First, economic literacy based on the general societal characteristics indicates 48.33 with females and 46.76 with males on average respectively, which shows a low score by and large. In the program divisions of college, nursing students showed the highest economic literacy, 58.67, followed by students in humanity and society, 53.56 students in engineering, 49.00 students in public health, 45.78 and students in art and physical education, 39.64. Levels of education of college students' father also affected economic Literacy of college students. College students whose father has a middle school diploma or lower revealed the highest economic literacy, 50.11. A second place is those whose father has a high school diploma, 49.57. The lowest score was recorded by those whose father has a graduate school degree. Even among the college students, those who just graduated from high school exhibited the highest economic literacy, 49.35, whereas those with a graduate school degree showed the lowest, 40.00 on average. In the economic literacy by financial empirical characteristics, college students who answered that they had an experience of opening a bankbook came up with 48.47, and those who answered that they had never opened a bankbook demonstrated a very low score of 30.20 on average. In the economic literacy by economic life variable, college students who never receive pocket money showed the highest score of 50.88, and those who get some pocket money whenever they need exhibited the lowest score of 44.23 on average. In the economic literacy by economic education variable, college students who answered that they had taken an economic education showed a score of 50.09. On the other hand, those who answered that they had never taken an economic education exhibited a score of 45.23 on average. College students who said that economic education is necessary showed a score of 50.24 in the economic literacy, whereas those who said that economic education is not necessary exhibited a score of 45.23 on average.